ST CHAPTER 8

Wei Jiayi woke up very early.

The night before, Pan Yifei hadn’t appeared in his dreams. Instead, an excavator had noisily trudged back and forth through the mud. It was still better than dreaming about old memories.

Getting out of bed, he walked to the window and looked down. In the open space in front of the guesthouse, a yellow flatbed truck was already parked with a small excavator loaded onto the back.

Wei Jiayi could hardly imagine how much effort Secretary Wu had put in the night before to ensure the excavator arrived before Zhao Jing woke up.

He could only be grateful that he wasn’t one of Zhao Jing’s subordinates. Once he got through this ordeal, he planned to stay as far away from Zhao Jing as possible.

After dressing neatly, he went downstairs and ran into Zhao Jing. Zhao Jing was wearing a new set of gray golf attire with matching shoes, his hair impeccably styled, as he emerged from his room.

Wei Jiayi greeted him, “Good morning.”

“Mm.” Zhao Jing nodded and headed toward the dining area. With a crutch under his arm, he moved so quickly that it seemed as though he was flying—more agile than most people without injuries. Wei Jiayi followed a few steps behind and almost couldn’t keep up.

After breakfast, they set off for the forest. The previous day, Wei Jiayi had arranged to meet Nick at a viewpoint halfway up the mountain, marked by a parking sign.

Initially, Li Mingcheng wanted to drive, but after trying, he realized he couldn’t handle the flatbed truck. The assistant had managed to secure the vehicle but not a driver. Since no one present had experience driving it, Wei Jiayi considered asking Nick for help or even trying it himself. But Zhao Jing stepped in.

He said driving a flatbed truck was “a piece of cake—let’s not waste time,” before hopping into the driver’s seat himself. The PR company’s manager and two staff members followed in an off-road vehicle.

Both Wei Jiayi and Li Mingcheng were alarmed. No one dared openly stop Zhao Jing, so they reluctantly climbed into the front seat, which was relatively wide.

Li Mingcheng sat next to Zhao Jing, his hands twitching as if ready to grab the handbrake at any moment. That only made Wei Jiayi more anxious, so he stayed silent, not wanting to cause any distraction.

Zhao Jing’s expression was focused as he managed the clutch, gas, and brake simultaneously with his right foot. He released the handbrake, looking extremely busy. Despite this, the truck stalled a few times before finally moving forward. Watching this gave Wei Jiayi a headache—he couldn’t help but think that he had survived a tsunami, only to be driven off a cliff by Zhao Jing.

He mentally prepared himself to intervene if things got dangerous. However, after driving a short distance along the mountain road, he realized that Zhao Jing wasn’t driving recklessly. His control over the direction and speed was surprisingly precise. While slow, he managed not to stall the vehicle again.

Li Mingcheng also breathed a sigh of relief, and though his voice was still tight, he offered a weak compliment. “Ge, I didn’t know you were so good at driving a flatbed truck.”

Zhao Jing nodded calmly, even sparing a glance in Wei Jiayi’s direction. It wasn’t clear whether he was looking in the rearview mirror or checking if Wei Jiayi’s expression betrayed the same disrespect it had the night before.

When they reached the parking sign, Nick was already waiting. Upon seeing the excavator they had brought, he grew visibly excited.

Nick returned to his car and led the way down the disaster-stricken mountain path. The road was littered with construction debris that hadn’t been cleared, leaving it uneven and bumpy. The flatbed truck bounced up and down, shaking violently.

Wei Jiayi suspected that the intensity of the jolts might already be causing discomfort in Zhao Jing’s left leg. However, Zhao Jing didn’t utter a word, and his expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to tell whether he was in pain.

At a fork in the road, they turned left and continued until they reached several tree trunks that had been cut and pushed aside. Nick stopped the car, got out, and informed Wei Jiayi that this was the entrance to the forest where rescue work was needed.

The forest, once filled with tall eucalyptus trees, had lost half of its trees to the tsunami, and many others were leaning or had fallen to the ground.

From their parking spot, they could see a few dozen meters into the forest, where a collapsed building lay in ruins. Only broken walls remained. Wei Jiayi noticed an old excavator working beside a fallen wall, with a few people standing nearby.

“There are six houses in this direction. Walter and I are working on clearing this area,” Nick explained to Wei Jiayi. He then pointed in another direction. “Could you handle the houses over there?”

Just as Wei Jiayi agreed to the task, Li Mingcheng had already set up the unloading ramp for the flatbed truck. Zhao Jing, sitting in the excavator, carefully drove it down.

Since Zhao Jing needed to clear the path first, there wasn’t much Li Mingcheng could do at the moment. He roped in the PR manager and one staff member to serve as extra muscle. They grabbed the state-of-the-art life detection equipment donated by Zhao Jing’s parents and headed toward the less severely damaged buildings to search for signs of life.

Meanwhile, Wei Jiayi and another PR staff member stayed behind near the excavator to assist Zhao Jing as needed.

At first, Zhao Jing’s operation of the excavator wasn’t as skilled as he had claimed.

The excavator’s cabin was a bit cramped for him. He had to hunch slightly as he handled the controls, looking like someone trying to squeeze a size 44 foot into a size 42 shoe.

From over ten meters away, Wei Jiayi watched as the excavator moved in stuttering fits, reminiscent of a video buffering due to a bad internet connection.

The PR staff called Wei Jiayi over to discuss camera angles. However, before they could capture even a single smooth video of Zhao Jing operating the excavator, the machine suddenly lurched forward, almost crashing into a tree.

“This isn’t working.” The PR staff was alarmed, saying to Wei Jiayi, “I think we should hold off on recording videos and just take pictures for now. I really thought President Zhao could drive this thing.”

Hearing this, Wei Jiayi stepped back a few paces and snapped a few pictures on his phone.

It made him think back to when he first met Zhao Jing, back when he was still a photography student.

At a party, Zhao Jing had caught his eye immediately. He thought Zhao Jing was someone who just belonged in front of a camera—his sharp features, defined bone structure, and tall, athletic build. The colored lights cast their glow on his shoulders and nose bridge, creating shadows that were flawless. Without thinking, Wei Jiayi had pressed the shutter. The resulting photo was great, but Zhao Jing, with his bad temper, had walked over and demanded it be deleted.

Wei Jiayi never would have imagined that, years later, Zhao Jing would come to him asking for photographs. Glancing at the screen now, he mused that if Zhao Jing ever went bankrupt, he could always model for construction vehicle ads.

Although things got off to a rocky start, the PR staff had spoken too soon. Within minutes, Zhao Jing seemed to get the hang of it.

The excavator began to move steadily, advancing with precision as it cleared away the debris blocking the path, piling it to one side.

“We can record now!” the staff member said excitedly.

Startled, Wei Jiayi quickly hit the record button and captured a video of Zhao Jing, the CEO, operating the excavator.

Through the glass of the excavator’s cabin, Zhao Jing’s expression was stern, his hands skillfully performing fine maneuvers on the controls. Watching him, Wei Jiayi couldn’t help but think that Zhao Jing’s boasting hadn’t been entirely baseless—he really did seem to have solid skills.

As the excavator continued advancing, Wei Jiayi didn’t record the entire time.

He captured several clips, and thinking they were enough to work with, put down his phone and followed on foot. After walking for a while, the excavator suddenly came to a stop.

Zhao Jing raised the arm of the machine, cut the engine, opened the door, and turned to call out, “Wei Jiayi.”

Hearing his name, Wei Jiayi walked closer. He looked up and noticed Zhao Jing’s brow was slightly furrowed. One hand rested on the door as he leaned out and said, “Something’s not right. Go take a look up front.”

Wei Jiayi was shocked, then moved to the front of the excavator and saw a thigh sticking out of the dirt.

His heart sank. He dropped to one knee and began digging with his hands, removing clumps of dirt, seaweed, and rocks that had somehow been swept there. He unearthed a body buried in the soil.

It was a man, larger in build, his face unrecognizable after being submerged in water.

Wei Jiayi’s hands trembled slightly as he gritted his teeth, trying to lift the body. But moving a body wasn’t the same as carrying someone alive—the limbs were cold, slippery, and difficult to grip. He was just about to call the PR staff over for help when Zhao Jing’s voice sounded close by. “Give it to me.”

Wei Jiayi raised his head and saw that Zhao Jing had somehow gotten out of the excavator without him noticing. He leaned on a crutch, his face stoic and his lips pressed into a tight line.

“One on each side,” Zhao Jing said simply. Despite his obvious difficulty, he bent down and reached out with his right hand to grab the body’s elbow, which Wei Jiayi was already holding.

Wei Jiayi took the other arm, and with Zhao Jing’s help, they hoisted the body onto his back.

They hadn’t walked far when Wei Jiayi glanced up and saw one of the PR staff raising a phone. It seemed he thought capturing this moment would make for good PR.

The flash went off in an instant. Before Wei Jiayi could say a word, Zhao Jing reacted with startling speed. Letting go of his crutch, he raised a hand to shield the face of the deceased. His sharp gaze locked onto the PR staff, and his voice turned almost aggressive. “What are you doing?”

The crutch dropped to the ground with a muffled thud, landing on a stone.

The PR staff froze in place, not daring to move.

Zhao Jing glared at him for two seconds, pointed at him, and, holding back his anger, quietly ordered, “Delete the photo.” Wei Jiayi was also taken aback, realizing that this was what Zhao Jing’s real anger looked like.

The PR staff nervously deleted the photo, his lips pale as he apologized. Zhao Jing scolded him again. “Do you have any common sense? If you can do it, do it. If not, get lost.” He told him to go back to the car and stop getting in the way.

After the PR staff left, Wei Jiayi wanted to pick up the crutch for Zhao Jing and asked if he could hold on for a few more seconds.

Zhao Jing nodded, clearly in a bad mood. Wei Jiayi let go of the body, quickly bent down to pick it up, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Zhao Jing stagger slightly, almost falling forward. But he still managed to stay on his feet.

Wei Jiayi handed Zhao Jing the crutch, which he gripped firmly. He noticed that Zhao Jing’s shirt was stained, and his arms were marked with several injuries, each one crusted over with dark pink scabs.

After walking a short distance, Li Mingcheng and the other two PR staff arrived.

Their expressions grew somber as they took the body from Zhao Jing and Wei Jiayi. Without a word, Zhao Jing leaned on his crutch and walked along the cleared path, heading back to the excavator that was far too small for his tall frame.

Throughout the day, Zhao Jing and Wei Jiayi uncovered four bodies. Meanwhile, Li Mingcheng, using the detection device, picked up signs of life in one of the houses where Nick was already working.

Zhao Jing maneuvered the excavator over to assist, helping to free a mother and daughter. Nick transported them to the medical station for care.

By the time the sun had fully set and no additional signs of life were detected, they took the bodies to a temporary morgue and placed them in the freezer.

On the drive back to the guesthouse, nobody was in the mood to talk.

Perhaps only nature could combine both optimism and cruelty, never pausing for individual lives. In just two days, the scent of the mountain breeze had returned to normal, carrying the fresh fragrance of tropical vegetation into the car through the open windows. It felt like a form of consolation: the lost were gone, but the safe remained safe.

After showering and eating dinner in silence, Wei Jiayi planned to head straight to bed, just as Li Mingcheng had. But before going upstairs, he noticed Zhao Jing hadn’t returned to his room. Instead, he was sitting motionless on the sofa in the living room.

Wei Jiayi felt a bit worried, thinking that after the day’s rescue work, Zhao Jing might experience another stress reaction. Hesitant, he had already descended several steps, but with a resigned sigh, he turned around and went back down.

When Wei Jiayi entered the living room, Zhao Jing glanced at him briefly before shifting his gaze back toward the television.

“Do you want to watch something?” Wei Jiayi asked, reminding himself to stay patient. “Are you okay?”

Zhao Jing mumbled a vague “Mm,” leaving it unclear which question he was responding to.

Wei Jiayi sat on an armchair, not too far from him. They remained quiet for a while until Zhao Jing finally broke the silence. “Why didn’t you turn on the TV?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Wei Jiayi apologized, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.

The channel was already set to a news station, reporting on the tsunami disaster. In addition to Buderus Island, several other regions had been affected.

Wei Jiayi suddenly got up, realizing he hadn’t arranged his next work yet. As he listened to the news, he sent a message to his agent, saying he wanted to stay on Buderus Island for another two weeks to volunteer.

His agent called back immediately. “I can try to smooth things over, but you’ll need to apologize to the clients yourself. Plus, you’ll have to arrange for a replacement photographer.”

“I understand. I’ll handle it,” Wei Jiayi promised.

“One more thing. The secretary for the CEO of Puchang Tech contacted me earlier,” the agent said. “What kind of photos are you taking for them to pay so much? Or did I just get scammed? Do you know Zhao Jing?”

Wei Jiayi glanced over at Zhao Jing, who was now watching a commercial for instant noodles with an unusual level of focus.

“I know him. I’ll explain when I get back,” Wei Jiayi replied.

The agent immediately pleaded with him to make sure he behaved well and didn’t ruin the income. Only after receiving a firm promise did the agent finally hang up.

Putting his phone down, Wei Jiayi began mentally sorting through which of his photographer friends might be available to cover for him. Suddenly, Zhao Jing spoke up. “Wei Jiayi, delete all the photos and videos you took today.”

“What’s wrong?” Wei Jiayi asked, looking up.

“I don’t do that kind of PR,” Zhao Jing said coldly, still staring at the TV.

Wei Jiayi suspected that Zhao Jing believed he had shown no emotion while speaking. But from Wei Jiayi’s perspective, the crutch propped against the sofa was almost bent out of shape by Zhao Jing’s right hand.

It was obvious—Zhao Jing was still angry.

“Sure, I’ll delete them. Don’t overthink it. You didn’t come up with that PR strategy; he probably just got overly eager to do a good job. Since no real harm was done, it’s not worth stressing over.” Feeling a twinge of pity, Wei Jiayi offered a few words of comfort, then asked, “Do you want to watch me delete them?”

“No need.”

Zhao Jing’s tone was still icy, but at least his hand relaxed, as though Wei Jiayi’s words had reached him.

Remembering his agent’s reminder, Wei Jiayi felt helpless. After thinking for a moment, he added, “But since you’re paying, I’ll send you the photos to keep as a backup and delete them on my end. Does that work?”

Zhao Jing gave him a quick glance, then seemed to suddenly have a thought. His expression changed, turning a bit strange. He glanced at Wei Jiayi a few times with a subtle look, then lowered his head to fiddle with his phone. A moment later, he handed it to Wei Jiayi, showing a QR code on the screen. “Add me.”

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Author’s note:

Wei Jiayi: ……